WASHINGTON – Supreme Court said Friday night that the abortion pill mifepristone will remain widely available for the time being, postponing the possibility of abrupt discontinuation of the drug, which is used in more than half of abortions in the United States.

The ruling halted moves that sought to limit the availability of mifepristone as the appeal progressed: a federal judge in Texas ruling to put the drug on the market completely and an appeals court ruling to impose significant barriers to the pill, including blocking access by mail.

The unsigned one-point order, which was issued hours before the restrictions went into effect, marked the second time in a year that the Supreme Court has deemed a serious attempt to drastically limit access to abortion.

Ultimately, this case could have serious implications even for states where abortion is legal, as well as for the FDA’s regulatory body for other drugs.

If the judge’s decision in Texas that quashed the FDA’s approval for the pill after more than two decades stands, it could pave the way for all sorts of problems with the agency’s approval of other drugs and allow health care providers anywhere. challenge government policies that may affect the patient.

The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene after the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a number of restrictions in the Texas ruling, even as it said it would allow the pill to remain on the market.

In Friday’s ruling, Judges Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. disagreed.

Judge Thomas did not give reasons, but Judge Alito noted that the Fifth Circuit had already narrowed down the most far-reaching aspects of the Texas decision. He added that the FDA and the manufacturer of the branded version of mifepristone, Danco Laboratories, “did not demonstrate that they could be irreparably harmed” in the appeals court case.

Judge Alito was skeptical of the FDA’s claims that “regulatory ‘chaos'” would ensue if the lower court’s decision went into effect. Citing a rival case filed by the Democratic Attorneys General of Washington, which is seen as a direct challenge to the case in Texas, he accused the FDA of using the judiciary to enforce “desired policies while evading both necessary measures.” departmental procedures and judicial control”.

Most likely, this is not the last word of the judges. After the Fifth Circuit hears the appeal, the case will likely go back to the Supreme Court.

None of the judges appointed by President Donald J. Trump publicly expressed their dissent.

The ruling is, at least temporarily, a victory for the Biden administration.

President Biden welcomed the decision, saying “the administration will continue to protect the FDA’s independent expert authority for reviewing, approving, and regulating a wide range of prescription drugs.”

The Texas ruling, he added, “would undermine the FDA’s medical opinion and endanger women’s health.”

An FDA spokesman declined to comment.

The response from the plaintiffs, a coalition of anti-abortion groups and several doctors, has been muted.

Eric Baptiste, senior adviser to Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative legal organization that represents the coalition, said the battle will continue.

“The FDA should be held accountable for the damage it has done to the health of countless women and girls and to the rule of law by not examining how dangerous the medical abortion regime is and illegally lifting all meaningful safety measures, even allowing abortions under mail. ‘ said Mr Baptist.

After the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in June, political and legal battles have shifted towards medical abortion, a two-component regimen typically used in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

The first drug, mifepristone, blocks the reproductive hormone progesterone, and the second, misoprostol, taken one or two days later, causes contractions and helps the uterus expel its contents.

Over five million women have used mifepristone to terminate pregnancies in the United States, and dozens of other countries have approved its use.

The case came to the judges after a fast-paced and confusing battle over the legal status of the pill.

In November, the plaintiffs filed suit in the Amarillo branch of the federal judiciary in Texas, guaranteeing that the case would be heard by a single judge: Matthew J. Kachsmarik of the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Judge Kaczmarik, appointed by Mr. Trump, is a longtime anti-abortion opponent and joined the court after working for the First Liberty Institute, a conservative legal group that focuses on religious freedom issues.

The coalition that filed the lawsuit, the Hippocratic Medicine Alliance, argued that the FDA misapproved the pill in 2000 and that mifepristone was unsafe. The agency strongly disputed these claims, pointing to studies that show that serious complications are rare and that less than 1 percent of patients require hospitalization.

This month, Judge Kaczmarik, in an interim order, invalidated the drug’s FDA approval and gave both parties a week to seek emergency care before the ruling takes effect.

Less than an hour later, US federal judge Thomas O. Rice, appointed by President Barack Obama, issued a controversial ruling in a separate mifepristone lawsuit. Judge Rice barred the FDA from restricting the availability of the pill in the 17 states and the District of Columbia that were parties to the lawsuit.

Competing rulings meant that the case would almost certainly go to the Supreme Court.

The FDA immediately appealed Judge Kachsmarik’s decision, and a divided three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans upheld the agency’s approval for the drug, ensuring mifepristone remains on the market.

But the commission erected several barriers to entry, partly siding with Judge Kachmaryk as the suit progressed through the courts. It has blocked a number of steps the FDA has taken since 2016 to increase the availability and distribution of the drug, such as allowing it to be mailed and prescribed by non-physician healthcare professionals.

Adam Liptak another Christina Jewett made a report.